You should also use "single point" focus in order to avoid focusing on all the branches and having the nest and chicks blurry.

I always carry a point and shoot for those times when you don't want to be too obtrusive. You can hold it in your hand away from your face and take several shots. One of them generally works with a little cropping.

Bummer, but thanks for the speedy responses.

I would like to purchase a good quality (at reasonable price) 2x teleconverter for use with my 55-300mm lens on a Nikon D5100. Any suggestions?

That makes sense. Thanks.

It's not a concern, just curious. When one buys a point and shoot, the lens is described a 3x, 5x, etc. An SLR or DSLR lens is in mm, but also provides magnification, if it's a telephoto. There must be some way to compare.

What is a rule of thumb for converting a telephoto in millimeters (e.g. 300mm) to power (e.g. 3x or 5x)?

I have a new Nikon D5100. It has a large number of scene modes using both the wheel at the top of the camera and the auxiliary wheel on the rear of the body. As an old film SLR veteran, I certainly understand the advantages of the flexibility and customization of manual mode. But wouldn't it be true that each new generation of cameras will have gotten much more technically sophisticated pre programmed settings using various scene modes?